Featuring Eric Dolphy (alto sax, bass clarinet, flute), Booker Little (trumpet) Mal Waldron (piano), Richard Davis (bass), and Ed Blackwell (drums). Includes remastered audio, original liner notes by Robert Levin and new ... more &raquoliners by Neil Tesser. In mid-July of 1961, the New York Times reported that the city-home of the Five Spot, where this short-lived quintet played its one and only engagement-was experiencing warmer than usual temperatures. Pianos hate extremes of temperature. In addition, heavy rainstorms had pummeled the metropolitan area the day before this recording, with clouds and scattered storms continuing the next few days; we can guess that the humidity played its part in sapping the piano strings of their necessary tension. Whatever the reason, Mal Waldron found himself playing what may be the most ferociously, obtrusively, and at times comically out-of-tune piano on any major jazz recording of the last 60 years. Over the years, as history has increasingly lionized these performances, the problem of the piano has grown proportionally. Less than three months after the Five Spot date, trumpeter Booker Little died: the first among equals in this band, he shared with Eric Dolphy an encyclopedic command of form and technique, and a commitment to shared musical ideals. Little's death placed the heavy stamp of mortality on this one-and-only collaboration between musical soulmates, marred as it was by the piano clinkers. Less than three years after that, Dolphy himself was dead, predictably raising the stakes on any music he had recorded, let alone a once-in-his-lifetime quintet-and further raising the hackles of those who bemoaned the interruptive intonation by the hapless piano. That night at the Five Spot, the Dolphy-Little quintet recorded ten tunes. Four of them (including one alternate take) appeared on the New Jazz label as Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot. The first two tunes heard here arrived later as Volume 2 on Prestige; "Number Eight (Potsa Lotsa)" and "Booker's Waltz," included here as bonus tracks, first appeared on Memorial Album; and the remaining two, "God Bless the Child" and "Status Seeking," were issued posthumously on Dolphy's Here and There, also on Prestige.&laquo less

Synopsis

Album Description

Featuring Eric Dolphy (alto sax, bass clarinet, flute), Booker Little (trumpet) Mal Waldron (piano), Richard Davis (bass), and Ed Blackwell (drums). Includes remastered audio, original liner notes by Robert Levin and new liners by Neil Tesser. In mid-July of 1961, the New York Times reported that the city-home of the Five Spot, where this short-lived quintet played its one and only engagement-was experiencing warmer than usual temperatures. Pianos hate extremes of temperature. In addition, heavy rainstorms had pummeled the metropolitan area the day before this recording, with clouds and scattered storms continuing the next few days; we can guess that the humidity played its part in sapping the piano strings of their necessary tension. Whatever the reason, Mal Waldron found himself playing what may be the most ferociously, obtrusively, and at times comically out-of-tune piano on any major jazz recording of the last 60 years. Over the years, as history has increasingly lionized these performances, the problem of the piano has grown proportionally. Less than three months after the Five Spot date, trumpeter Booker Little died: the first among equals in this band, he shared with Eric Dolphy an encyclopedic command of form and technique, and a commitment to shared musical ideals. Little's death placed the heavy stamp of mortality on this one-and-only collaboration between musical soulmates, marred as it was by the piano clinkers. Less than three years after that, Dolphy himself was dead, predictably raising the stakes on any music he had recorded, let alone a once-in-his-lifetime quintet-and further raising the hackles of those who bemoaned the interruptive intonation by the hapless piano. That night at the Five Spot, the Dolphy-Little quintet recorded ten tunes. Four of them (including one alternate take) appeared on the New Jazz label as Eric Dolphy at the Five Spot. The first two tunes heard here arrived later as Volume 2 on Prestige; "Number Eight (Potsa Lotsa)" and "Booker's Waltz," included here as bonus tracks, first appeared on Memorial Album; and the remaining two, "God Bless the Child" and "Status Seeking," were issued posthumously on Dolphy's Here and There, also on Prestige.

CD Reviews

More music from the legendary live date.

jazzfanmn | St Cloud, MN United States | 08/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd is the second of three that chronicles Eric Dolphy's legendary concert recorded in 1961 at New york's Five Spot cafe. Dolphy' clarinet and flute lead Mal Waldron on piano, Richard Davis on bass, Eddie Blackwell on drums, and the near forgotten trumpet great Booker Little. If the fact this disc only has two tracks makes you hesitant to buy it, fear not both tracks are deep and reward multiple listenings. Little's "Aggression" opens the disc, and is exceptional because it is one of the few times on record when Dolphy does not outshine the other soloists. Little takes the first solo, and simply burns. His brilliant faculty and fertile imagination are on full display as he manages to wrend sounds and effects rarely hear from a trumpet, all the while keeping his musical acrobatics logical and his tone clear and bright. Dolphy follows with his distinctive bass clarinet. His solos on the seemingly awkward solo instrument are always among his most inventive and interesting. Keeping with this standard Dolphy dives into a burbling squealing exploration of the instrument's lower register. Waldron follows with a solo seemingly sparked by Dolphy and Little. His left hand laying down block chords under his nimble right hand runs. Richard Davis shows off his awesome technique by performing one of the clearest, most flawless, uptempo bass solos I have ever heard. Eddie Blackwell finishes the soloing with an extended rapid fire burst of tight snare rolls and bombed out tom fills. Easily one of the highlights of the entire live set. Dolphy switches to his flute for the second and last of the disc's extended works, the slower and somewhat more convetional standard, "Like Someone In Love". For his solo, Dolphy ranges from puckish to lyrical to more avante garde overblowing and and percussive tone exploration. Little adopts a more melancholy laidback tone and constructs a soulful, lyrical solo. Waldron swings into a laidback blues flavored solo colored by switches in tempo in its second half. Davis has another dexterous, expressive solo he truly is one of the masters of the jazz bass solo. This music is not only important as a document of one of Jazz's greatest live performances, but because both Little and Dolphy would pass away within the next three years, Little three months after this date at 23. I recommend buying vol. 1 first, this cd and the final collection "Memorial Album" last, but the music stands alone and sounds fresh almost fourty years later. Highly recommened music."

Sharp, lyrical free jazz

Lisa Clayton | South San Francisco, CA USA | 09/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this back in 1978, when I was 16, and it still remains one of my favorite disks, even over "Out To Lunch" or "Berlin Concerts". Dolphy's bass clarinet is a revelation-- I can't add much to the other reviewers, they are spot on, but I will say that he can wring some amazing emotions out of the unwieldy beast. He can go from sweetly lyrical to jarringly paranoid in only a few bars."